Ground will be broken Tuesday on Willmar WYE Project

(Willmar MN-) Ground will be broken this afternoon for the Willmar WYE Project. The partners of the Willmar Rail Connector & Industrial Access project will host a groundbreaking at 2:30 p.m. at the former Willmar Airport site near County Road 5 and Trott Avenue Southwest. Access to the ceremony will be from County Road 5 with signage directing the way. The public is invited to attend the event. Kandiyohi County Public Works Director Mel Odens says the project is a public-private partnership between the Minnesota Department of Transportation, Kandiyohi County, City of Willmar, Kandiyohi/Willmar Economic Development Commission and BNSF Railway, to build a new rail line on the west side of Willmar. Odens says some preliminary work has already begun...

...The additional rail line will provide a direct connection between the Marshall and Morris Subdivisions of the BNSF freight rail network as well as freight rail access to the City of Willmar’s industrial park. Odens says the project includes the realignment of Highway 12, the reconstruction of Highway 40, including two new bridges, as well as the construction of two new roundabouts, on top of the roundabout now being construction at 19th Avenue Southwest and County Road 5...

...The Hoffman Team is the contractor on the project. Major participants of the team include Hoffman Construction Company, Lunda Construction Company, and Bolton & Menk, Inc. Construction will be going on for the next 3 years.